


VIXX One-Shots and Drabbles

by BTS_AlissMarie



Category: VIXX
Genre: Angst, Basically any ships you can think of, Bromance, Fluff, Gen, Injury, M/M, Mainly Hongbin and N because why not, Multi, Why is everyone in VIXX a visual?!?!, navi - Freeform, neo - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-31
Updated: 2019-01-02
Packaged: 2019-10-01 03:06:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 14,679
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17236175
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BTS_AlissMarie/pseuds/BTS_AlissMarie
Summary: Just a couple of one-shots and drabbles for VIXX because I am totally obsessed with them right now. Seriously, if you don't stan them yet, you totally should! They are highly underrated and their M/Vs are seriously the best I have seen out of any K-Pop group. Besides, they're all visuals and I love them all. They can all sing (yes, even Ravi!) and most of them can rap, and Lee Hongbin (bless his soul) is legit one of the best actors I have ever seen. Go watch Moorim School if you haven't yet - he and Lee Hyunwoo totally wrecked me! I honestly have no bias in this group because they are equally handsome and talented (though Hongbin is inching his way up because of his smashing acting skills).Anyway, now that my fangirling and urging to stan is over, please enjoy reading these short stories! I hope this encourages others to begin writing stories on them because there aren't too many out there. <3 VIXX fighting!**Requests are open!! I cannot promise to update much as I am a college student, but I love my babies and I will do my best to post when I have time! No smut, but I will do tons of fluff and cuddles!**





	1. The Love of Brothers

**Author's Note:**

> In this first one-shot, five of the members of VIXX decide to try a hidden camera prank on Lee Hongbin. Everything goes well at first, and it seems like they might actually be able to pull off his prank (unlike their prank on Jaehwan/Ken), but things escalate too quickly, leaving Hongbin at the mercy of his members and the staff. Before Hakyeon is able to fix the rapidly worsening situation, things fall apart. It's up to the rest of VIXX to explain the whole incident and comfort Hongbin. But will the second-youngest member listen to them?
> 
> **Language Helps**
> 
> Ne - Korean for "yes"  
> Hyung - what a Korean boy will call his older brother  
> Nim - a title of respect for someone older/higher up  
> Yah - Korean expression for "Hey!"

"Yah, I said  _I_ was going to sit there! Get off!"

"What? Whatever happened to 'first come, first serve'?" 

"Hyungs over dongsaengs. Sorry, Hyukie."

"Fine! I call the recliner next time."

Gathering the members of VIXX for a meeting was never easy, in Hakyeon's opinion. As the leader, he had to shout for everyone to gather and ceremoniously find spots without arguing; on some occasions, he literally dragged a member out of their room and threw them on the ground. The days the members actually gathered without complaint, they fought. Thus, no matter how many times Hakyeon called a meeting, he always dreaded the moments before it began. 

"Just shut up and sit down," the leader of VIXX sighed. Sometimes the bickering between Jaehwan and Sanghyuk grew a bit annoying, and the only way to stop them was to use the 'leader voice'. Hakyeon didn't use his leader voice often, so it generally brought immediate obedience when he did. Proof of how much the others trusted and respected him, despite the amount of time they spent teasing him. True to his quiet command, Jaehwan and Sanghyuk quit arguing and found seats - on the same recliner. Most of their arguments ended in such strange ways - rather than a solution, there tended to be more of a compromise. Sanghyuk and Jaehwan practically sat on top of each other while patiently waiting for Wonshik and Taekwoon to arrive - until Jaehwan  _did_ sit on Sanghyuk's lap. Haekyon shook his head forlornly at their actions. They definitely annoyed him more often than not, but he loved them from the bottom of his heart. 

"Hey, hyung," Wonshik murmured as he walked in from his room and sat comfortably on the floor between Sanghyuk's and Jaehwan's legs. "What'd you call us out here for? I don't have a lot of time because I'm working on lyrics."

"I know," Hakyeon acknowledged with a polite inclination of his head in Wonshik's direction. He knew the single rapper in their group worked studiously on lyrics for Starlights. During such times, Wonshik rarely allowed himself to be disturbed, so Hakyeon knew he'd have to keep this meeting as short as possible. "Once Taekwoon-hyung joins us I'll begin."

"Sure." Wonshik glanced down at the notebook in his hand, paused for a moment, then opened his mouth and shouted as loud as humanly possible, "TAEKWOON! Get your butt in here so I can get back to work!"

Ah, the disrespect in this group. Hakyeon swore one day that they'd all drop honorifics and just scream at each other 24/7. Not that he'd mind, because it meant they loved each other and considered each other a part of the family. But just the idea sent a terrified shudder down his back. 

"Watch that tone, Kim Wonshik," a voice growled from the dark shadows. Taekwoon, with his ever-frowning expression and long hair hiding one eye, emerged from the shadows of his room with the perfect glare at his dongsaeng. "I'm your hyung, after all."

Unfazed, Wonshik shot Taekwoon a brilliant smile. "Ne, hyung!" he exclaimed. "I just wanted to get you out here. You're the last one . . . again."

Leo, though disciplined and hard-working down to his last drop of energy, always ran late to meetings. Hakyeon didn't bother him about, though, because he knew Taekwoon had his own business to work on. Still, the others gave Taekwoon a hard time about his punctuality. Hakyeon suspected it was because this was one of the only things they could tease Taekwoon about and get away with. 

"So I see," Taekwoon observed dryly. He lazily strode his way over to the couch and plopped down on the soft cushion by Hakyeon before eyeing the five boys gathered in the living room of their apartment. "What's up?"

With the attention of the others finally upon him, Hakyeon cleared his throat and began. "We've been so busy recently that we haven't had much time for fun in the last few months. Thus, I think it's time we prepared a little stunt against Hongbinnie."

"You mean a hidden camera?" Sanghyuk asked tentatively. On his lap, Jaehwan raised an eyebrow in interest. He remembered the last time the boys had prepared a hidden camera prank - on him - and he'd figured out halfway through and totally spoiled the surprise they prepared him. Hopefully they'd worked on their acting a bit since then. Too bad the only major actor in their group would be the brunt of the prank. Still, it'd be fun to see how Hongbin handled the situation and how well he could read his friends. Plus, he could give them tips on their acting for future pranks and M/Vs. 

"Do you have any idea what the prank would be, Hakyeonnie?" Taekwoon pushed in interest. The oldest member of VIXX never used special nicknames often, considering how serious and down-to-earth he was, so the fact that he expressed affection for his leader at that moment betrayed his interest and excitement in the plan unfolding. "It better be good if it's going to work on Hongbin. You know how he is." 

"I do," Hakyeon chuckled. "So here's what I'm thinking: tomorrow at practice, I'll start by saying that something looks a little off in the choreo. I'll have Hongbin try something new and see how he handles it. I may even have one of you guys do the same so he's not as suspicious. Then, I'll keep changing the choreography until we come up with a new move that looks decent. We'll have Hongbinnie keep trying it out, but we'll pretend like he's messing it up over and over again. Eventually, we'll become more and more frustrated at him for causing us to fall behind in practice. Ignore him for a little bit, give him some criticism, say something slightly angry, until he gets the point that he's doing something wrong. When he finally confronts us about it, we'll let it carry out for just a bit before we reveal the prank and tell him about the surprise break manager-nim gave him next week." 

The others remained quiet for a few moments to digest and contemplate the idea Hakyeon proposed to them. Most seemed on board, nodding to themselves here and there in approval. The occasional sigh echoed through the air when one of them thought of something that might not work, only to be forgotten in the midst of a solution to the problem. Eventually, the other four in the room spoke up and gave Hakyeon their approval. 

"I think this'll lighten things up for us a bit," Jaehwan murmured thoughtfully. "We've been so focused these past few weeks that we haven't really stopped and given ourselves family time. And Hongbinnie's always been able to understand when we're messing with him. I think it'll work."

"Ooh, I'm so excited now!" Sanghyuk laughed with a little clap of his hands. Honestly, the kid was so endearing to Hakyeon that the leader couldn't but watch him with a little smile on his face. "Allow me to go expend all of this energy so Hongbinnie-hyung doesn't start to suspect something because I'm bouncing off the walls tonight." 

"Just make sure you guys actually  _act_ this time," Jaehwan grinned snidely. In return to his playful comment, he received a pillow in the face from Taekwoon. One pillow followed by two, then three, until a full-fledged pillow fight broke out in the tiny apartment. 

The look on Hongbin's face when he finally came home and opened the door to reveal a feather-coated floor and inhuman screeching from his brothers was absolutely priceless. 

\---

"Great job on the choreography so far, everyone," Manager-nim praised the six boys. 

The next day arrived much too slowly for all but Hongbin. When practice finally arrived, Hakyeon nearly had to forcefully shut Sanghyuk up lest he forget that this whole hidden camera thing was  _hidden_. So far, the boys had managed to keep tight-lipped about the whole prank coming up in just a few minutes. Even the manager knew about the entire plan, and he contributed by acting like everything was entirely normal. The other staff video-taped and touched up makeup just like every other practice. Things were perfect. 

Time for the plan to be set in motion. 

"Let's go over it one more time just to make sure we've got it down," Manager-nim decided, to which the boys obediently filed back into their starting positions. 

The song began, the boys danced to their fullest, and everything ended on point. 

Until Hakyeon cleared his throat and said, "Hey, um, Manager-nim?"

"Yes, Hakyeonnie?"

"I think there's one part in the choreo that doesn't seem quite right. Do you mind if I take a look at the video of our practice and make some suggestions to the others?"

"Of course. Run it by me and the other members to get their opinions on it. We'll decide what to do from there."

"Thank you, manager-nim."

While Hakyeon busied himself re-watching the practice video, the other five members took to focusing on various tasks. Taekwoon absently ran through one part of the choreography he'd always struggled with, his fists clenched in deep concentration. Wonshik rapped to himself under his breath. Sanghyuk and Jaehwan joined Hongbin in the corner of the room where the boy to be pranked scrolled through his phone. 

"Binnie, what are you doing?" Jaehwan questioned. The older man practically threw himself on top of Hongbin in order to see over his shoulder. "Instagram? Oh, right, you said someone just went through and liked all of your photos, right? Even the ones from two years ago?"

"Yeah, pretty much," Hongbin replied, pointing at the name taking up numerous slots in his notifications. "It's hilarious, actually, how many people do that."

"I mean, it's not hard to like twenty-five photos," Sanghyuk teased gently. The maknae sidled up to Hongbin's other side and squashed his cheek against his friend's shoulder. Hongbin only gave him a soft shove for the snarky remark. "Yah, that same person liked all of my photos too!"

"All three thousand of them?" This time, Sanghyuk giggled and shoved Hongbin closer to Jaehwan. "I guess manager-nim was right when he said that some fans would literally like anything and everything we do."

"Well, you're also very likely to have more fans than the rest of us," Jaehwan explained. "You've done several k-dramas and web dramas that people like. Especially Moorim School."

"I guess so."

"Look at you, my famous brother!" Sanghyuk fake sniffed, pretending to blow his nose on Hongbin's sleeve. "He's grown up!"

"Shut up, Hyukkie," Hongbin smiled. He shut down Instagram and stuck his phone back in his pocket when Hakyeon moved to the middle of the practice room and clapped his hands. Taekwoon and Wonshik immediately clumped together, pointing at something on Leo's phone and arguing in whispers. Hongbin, Sanghyuk, and Jaehwan gathered by Hakyeon to await any suggestions he might have. 

"Taekwoon, Wonshik, pay attention," Hakyeon snapped. The words carried no heat behind them, rather an urging for the two men to stop whatever they were currently arguing about. "I think Manager-nim and I have figured it out. During the section where we all tighten up into a circle, Hongbin's arm is blocking Sanghyuk's face from the front, and that's not what we want to do. I think we can fix the problem by having you move about half a foot to the left in that section, Hongbinnie, and then compensate for the extra distance by having you switch places with Wonshik during the first half of the chorus. When Taekwoon and I switch during the second half, you should be back in your correct positions. Everything will naturally be back in place at the start of the second verse. Does that work for everyone?"

"It doesn't really affect me, so I don't care what we do as long as it works," Taekwoon agreed.

Jaehwan took a moment to picture the changes in head, then nodded. "It'll look better overall. We'll be able to see Hyukie's face during the first verse, and Hongbinnie will be in a better position overall." 

"I'm fine with it," Sanghyuk shrugged. He knew his opinion mattered, but not as much as Hakyeon's or Taekwoon's. "I think it'll be better now."

"Wonshik? Hongbin? You two okay with giving it a shot?" Hakyeon murmured, moving closer to the younger of the two and clapping him on the shoulder. "I know it'll be difficult since we're used to the original choreo, but I think we can pull it off."

"If you and manager-nim figure that this is the best way to improve the choreo, I'm game," Wonshik assented quietly. Of course, he knew this whole "fix" of the choreography was really the beginning of the prank, so he had to agree with it no matter. Perhaps a little later he could express doubt and layer on the tension. "If Hongbin's okay with it, the choreography will be perfect."

The others turned toward Hongbin to hear the young man's opinion. Deep inside, they were hoping they could all pull this off without arousing suspicion on their part, but right now they just needed to see if Hongbin would even agree to do the new choreo. For the second-youngest, a lot of pressure rested on his shoulders. He'd have to get over the habit of dancing to the old choreo, learn the new choreography before the concert in two weeks, and not mess up at all when the time came to perform. Of course, Wonshik had easily agreed and he'd have to remember the switches too . . . maybe it would be okay to agree then. "Could we just try it out a couple of times and watch the videos? I know things can turn out differently than we expected."

"Of course!" Hakyeon quickly agreed. Hongbin brought up a good point; oftentimes things looked better in someone's head than in real life. It would be a good idea to test out this new suggestion and see if it actually worked the way Hakyeon saw it playing out in his head. "Why don't we take another five minutes to rest and think about where we'll all need to stand and move when we start again. Manager-nim and I will discuss any further issues we might run into from the new choreography."

The others assented to the game plan before returning to their previous activities, only this time Sanghyuk joined Taekwoon in running through the lyrics of "Love Me Do", Jaehwan lazily crashed in one of the chairs reserved for the staff, busying himself with humming to "Eternity", and Wonshik put aside his phone for once and joined Hongbin on the cold, wooden floor. 

"Are you really okay with switching up the choreo? You know we won't do it if you're not comfortable," the rapper said soothingly. His dark eyes surveyed Hongbin with a sharp expression. "If it'll mess up your singing at all, we'll ditch the plan and stick to the old one. Hyukie can stand to have his beautiful face covered for a couple seconds."

Even while Hongbin chuckled at Wonshik's comment, he felt a blossom of fondness for his brothers swell up in his chest. Ever since that one audition when the judges had told him he could never sing, they'd made sure to go out of their way and tell him they knew that he could. They gave him some of the "best" lines in the songs, claiming that his deep voice was the only way to make it sound perfect. When he  _did_ sing, they kept him from moving too much on stage because they knew that movement jolted his voice and made it sound worse. And now, several years later when he'd gained enough confidence to tell himself he could indeed sing, they still made sure they didn't push him too much. Only real family would do such things. 

"Thanks, Wonshik-hyung," he smiled gratefully. "I'm pretty sure I can do it. There's not too much changing, and it's only you and I switching for half the chorus. Once I get it nailed in my head, I should be able to cope just fine."

"All right. But if anything about the new choreo makes you uncomfortable, let us know." 

"Sure."

"In the meantime, wanna plan to squash Jaehwan when we get home? He's been asking for it all day."

"Oh, man, I don't care  _what_ we do. Count me in."

For the next five minutes, Wonshik and Hongbin chuckled over the crazy antics of their fellow brothers. In their group of six, Hakyeon, Jaehwan, and Hyuk usually caused the most chaos on any given day. Wonshik joined in more often than Hongbin and Taekwoon did, but he still came across as much more reserved than the others. Hongbin had always been known for sitting back and laughing at them,  _especially_ when one of them failed in an epic, embarrassing way. And Taekwoon . . . well, sometimes he laughed. Sometimes he joined in. And sometimes he just sat there with a totally unreadable expression on his face. Thus, people always labeled him as intimidating and hard to read. No one would ever have believe the six of them could get along, yet here they were, closer than family. 

The five minutes came and went. The boys grabbed a few swigs of water as they lined back up for the choreography. Hongbin mentally ran through the changes Hakyeon and Manager-nim had decided on, quickly practicing it in short, jerky movements. Hopefully he'd be able to remember this. 

Hakyeon turned up the music, and the members of VIXX whole-heartedly threw themselves into the choreography. The first verse flowed by smoothly, Taekwoon's and Sanghyuk's voices filling the room with life and richness. It seemed that everything would work. Of course, as soon as that thought crossed Hongbin's mind, he forgot to perform the changes to the choreography. Hakyeon noticed this right away and held up a hand. 

"Stop, stop. Let's try again."

"I'm sorry," Hongbin apologized meekly. He felt bad for forgetting on the very first try. 

However, Hakyeon didn't seem too bothered. "It's fine. I know we've already been doing the choreo for such a long time that it's become a habit for us. We've got to break out of that habit to try the new version. Let's go again."

Hongbin forgot again. 

And again.

And again.

Each time, his guilt grew worse. He'd already been in a worse mood than usual coming here today. The director for his newest k-drama did not appreciate Hongbin's silly attitude and light-hearted jokes. The other actors loved it because it gave them something to laugh over and produced excellent bloopers. But the director didn't want bloopers; he wanted perfect scenes on the first try. He'd nagged and demanded and ordered. When Hongbin grew increasingly tired, he asked for more energy. Eventually, the other actors were affected by the director's angry directions and followed suit by ordering Hongbin around. Yesterday had been the worst day of all. The director told Hongbin to go home early or he'd be fired. Hongbin had kept all of his anger and fear wrapped up inside him when he'd come home because his brothers had seemed so happy and care-free. He didn't want to ruin that for them. 

Unfortunately, most of that anger had carried over into practice. Hongbin had managed to keep it at bay so far, but with each mistake he made, it threatened to come back and spill over. 

Finally, after five tries, Hongbin remembered to switch places with Wonshik during the chorus. Hakyeon patted him on the shoulder for remembering, and some of the anger roiling inside Hongbin abated. "Now if we can just get you to remember to move over half a foot at the end of verse one." 

Hongbin tried. So hard. 

Eventually, the new sequence became ingrained into his head. The old choreography fell out of his mind until he couldn't remember it easily. Still, it seemed he messed up every time they ran through the choreography, and sadly, he could tell his fellow members were slowly wearing out and gradually growing frustrated at him. 

"Hongbinnie, that was too far to the left."

"No, no, more to the right this time."

"Now you're too far from Taekwoon-hyung."

"Hongbinnie, you're usually better at remembering things than this. I know you're busy memorizing your script for your new drama, but we are just as important. We have a concert coming up pretty soon and we all need to be practicing to our fullest now."

"Stop! Just take a break for five minutes to recharge yourself."

"Hongbin, please just pay attention to what I'm saying."

Each comment from the leader of VIXX tore Hongbin down. The nickname slipped away to be replaced with a firm, tired chant of his name. The other members began to shoot him frustrated glares. Deep down inside, Hongbin knew all of this was his fault. He couldn't concentrate, and all the events from yesterday's film-shooting dragged him down much more than necessary. Overall, he felt like a useless piece of failure.  

Just when he thought he'd gotten the choreography down, Hakyeon would find something else to criticize. It hurt deep down inside. Why did this have to happen today of all days?

Three hours later, Hakyeon wearily called for a fifteen-minute break. The boys merely staggered over to the snack table and grabbed all the remaining water bottles to guzzle them down as if the bottles were their last life-line. Sanghyuk and Taekwoon collapsed against the far wall, their heads resting on top of each other. Hakyeon moved to speak to Wonshik; even Jaehwan had no energy left to shout or shoot insults at the others. 

Knowing he'd been the cause of the exhaustion currently claiming the bodies of the VIXX members, Hongbin dragged himself over to the corner of the practice room and slumped against the wall with his face pressed into the cool wood. Sweat poured down his temples and stuck to his shirt. He desperately wanted a sip of water, but all the bottles had been claimed by someone else, and he didn't feel obligated to ask his brothers for help when he'd done nothing for them the entire day. Thus, he suffered in quiet agony on the opposite side of the room. 

Ten minutes came and went. Jaehwan and Sanghyuk gathered up enough energy to groggily scuffle on the floor. Taekwoon perked up a bit, and even Wonshik shuffled around the room in a weird little dance. Realizing that the other members were occupied, Hakyeon quietly joined Hongbin on the floor. The leader didn't quite know when the best time to reveal the prank would be, but he already figured that Hongbin had had enough. Still, he wanted to see how the visual would react if the others expressed anger toward him. 

"Hongbin," he began with a quiet sigh, "I don't know what's wrong today. It might just be that my directing skills are terrible-"

"They're not," the other boy cut in. "It's me."

"Okay. Then maybe we could figure out why you're so off. Is everything okay?"

So maybe the others weren't terribly mad at him yet. Hongbin felt a little better knowing that he still had a chance to redeem himself. "I'm fine. I honestly don't know why I'm messing up so badly today. I feel so tired from yesterday's filming and the director's nagging that I'm not up to par." 

"Still, you're not focused enough. You should be able to put aside your personal problems for the good of the group and make this right." 

"I'm sorry, Hakyeon-hyung. I'll do my best."

"You keep saying that, but you don't really seem to be trying. Are you sure you're okay with this switch?"

"Ne. I can figure this out if I keep working on it."

"Hongbin, you've  _been_ working on it for the last three hours. If this was going to work, you would've gotten it down by now. I'm sorry, but I just don't think you're trying your best and I can't figure out why."

That hurt more than anything else Hakyeon had said that day, because Hongbin  _had_ been trying. His lips slipped downward in a frown that didn't go unnoticed by VIXX's leader, who stood with a heavy sigh and moved to the snack table to grab a bag of chips. "Five more minutes, everyone."

"Can't we take a longer break?" Sanghyuk complained with a tired whine. He broke away from Jaehwan and clambered to his feet. "Just ten more minutes, please?" 

Hakyeon appeared conflicted, not sure if more practice would finally get the routine nailed into Hongbin's head or if a longer break would give them more energy to continue. His gaze roamed over his friends one by one, taking in their pleading expressions and weary movements. This would be a good time to end the prank. Yes, now would be fine. Hakyeon opened his mouth to end the entire ordeal his team had just gone through, but at that moment the manager burst in and shouted, "All right, everyone on your feet, now! Your break is up!"

Six hearts ached at the news, and five of the boys trudged toward the center of the practice room. Hakyeon shot the manager a desperate glare, a sign that the prank needed to end as soon as possible. But somehow, the manager missed the hint. 

Hongbin was the last to rise. His heart felt heavy at the thought of disappointing his friends. He'd already dealt with so much the last two days, and he just couldn't stand grueling through another round of choreography. He rose to his feet, eyes focused on the ground. However, when the manager snapped at him, all the anger that had gathered up over the last few days exploded. Pictures of his director shouting at him and calling him names. Pictures of his brothers' frustration. The feeling of uselessness and rage. Hongbin released a sound of desperation and whirled around to slam his foot into the side of the wall as a release for his pent-up fury. The moment his foot met the wall, he felt a flash of pain shoot up his ankle. Great, now he'd just made everything ten times worse. Hongbin cursed under his breath and reeled back from the wall, the cries of his friends going unnoticed. 

"Hongbinnie, Hongbinnie, stop!" Hakyeon cried out. The leader of VIXX left his station and moved to grab Hongbin in his arms, but the latter had angrily limped out the door and slammed it behind him by the time Hakyeon moved. "This is bad. Really bad." Hakyeon pivoted to face the manager, the calmest, most firm expression etched across his face that any one had ever seen. "You're fired. You went to far without paying attention to what was happening. I tried to end the prank, but you let it go on." After dealing with the manager, Hakyeon turned to his friends and brothers. "Let's get to the apartment and see what we can do to help Hongbin. This is our fault. Therefore, it's up to us to fix the situation." 

\---

Nearly an hour after Hongbin made it home and locked himself in his room, he heard the front door open. For once, there were no shouts or bickering filling the house. Rather, worried whispers echoed through the cracks of his door and told him that he'd definitely made an impression when he'd left. A patter of socked feet halted near his door, but a second later, whoever stopped outside moved on. Hongbin was pretty sure he'd heard Hakyeon murmur, "Leave him be for a while."

Those kind words, and the fact that Hakyeon knew exactly what Hongbin needed, alleviated the hurt somewhat. Of all the members, Hakyeon probably had it the hardest. He had to deal with angry members, sad members, upset members, hurt members, wild members. On top of that, he had to help record and coach and lead VIXX as a whole. When any major changes were installed, Hakyeon would be the first to report if anything went wrong. He took part in most of the manager meetings. And that was only half of his duties. The guys must be even more exhausted Hongbin felt at the moment. 

Still, Hongbin appreciated the quiet time given to him. He needed a few hours to wind down and relax. To just forgive and forget everything that had happened. So he decided to close his eyes and rest his mind until Hakyeon finally barged in. 

Five hours later, Hongbin had nearly fallen asleep. His covers snuggled comfortably around his shoulders, his head rested on his soft pillow, and the throbbing in his ankle had dulled to a minor distraction. Dinner had come and gone with Taekwoon politely asking him to join the others. When Hongbin said nothing, Taekwoon left with a reluctant sigh. Now Hongbin was alone and ready to sleep the rest of the night. 

At that moment, a soft knock broke the silence over the apartment. Hakyeon's worried voice spoke questioningly through the door. "Hongbin, are you still awake?"

For a brief moment, Hongbin contemplated ignoring Hakyeon and falling asleep. It would be nice not to worry about what had happened that day. But at the same time, he knew that he wouldn't be able to sleep well with the guilt of avoiding his members hanging over his head. Opening his eyes, Hongbin replied with a sleep-laced voice. "Ne, hyung."

"May I come in?" Hakyeon asked tentatively. 

"It's unlocked."

"I know. I just wanted to make sure you were ready to talk." 

That settled it for Hongbin. Hakyeon obviously felt incredibly worried and upset if he asked permission to enter anyone's room when he knew he could walk right in. Plus, he couldn't tell if Hongbin felt ready to talk about practice yet, and he didn't want to overstep his bounds. 

That's how Hongbin knew it was time to let his leader in. "You can come in if you want."

The door creaked open and Hakyeon's head peeked in. Hongbin felt a wave of affection as his eyes met those of his leader's. He could never stay angry at his members for very long. They'd all gotten past that stage. "Are you okay if I explain what was supposed to happen today?" Hakyeon ventured while climbing up onto the bed with Hongbin. 

"Sure."

Once Hakyeon made himself comfortable by Hongbin's feet, he sucked in a giant breath. "Well, I'll start by dropping the bomb. The whole choreography-switch today was supposed to be a hidden camera prank."

Now  _that_ surprised Hongbin. The younger man shot up in bed with his eyes comically wide-open, shocked to think that the whole situation he'd dealt with had originally been just a prank. Which meant his members  _weren't_ mad at him. Unless he'd made them angry when he'd unintentionally carried it on for hours. "Are you- are you serious?"

Hakyeon loosed a bitter laugh. "Ne. So let me talk without interrupting, okay?" At Hongbin's slow nod, Hakyeon unveiled the story. "Last night, I gathered the other members together while you were working and planned a prank.The original plan was to change the choreography a little and make it seem like you kept messing up. The general idea was to have everyone act like they were angry at you, and when you started to apologize, we'd tell you about the prank and give you the good news." 

The entire time Hakyeon spoke, Hongbin kept his eyes glued on his brother. The way VIXX's leader looked directly at him, to prove his words were sincere. The way Hakyeon's eyes crinkled in stress. The way his high cheekbones moved up and down in a mesmerizing manner. Hakyeon really exhibited beauty on a unique level, much like Taekwoon and Jaehwan did. In fact, everyone in VIXX could be considered visuals, in Hongbin's opinion. They all had features sculpted in graceful, prominent contours. 

"Good news?" Hongbin asked, despite Hakyeon's request for no interruptions. If the manager had good news, it must be big. 

Hakyeon nodded. "You're getting a day off next week since you missed the last one for your k-drama. Preferably Monday since that's the only day we don't have rehearsal for the concert."

"Oh." The news didn't excite Hongbin as much as he thought it would, but it made sense. He loved his job so much, even if it did get frustrating at times. Even more importantly, he loved the people he worked with, his friends on set and his brothers on stage. He'd never give them up for anything. But having a day off when no one else did got boring quickly. He'd sit around the entire time not knowing what to do, wondering when the others would come home so he could tackle them and renew their energy after a long day. "Well, it's still nice to hear it now, even if the announcement didn't work before." He offered Hakyeon one of his sugary smiles to show he meant no harm in mentioning the failed plan. 

"Let me finish, you little brat," Hakyeon chuckled, smiling back and reaching out to ruffle Hongbin's hair. The latter pulled away with a scrunched-up nose. Everybody knew he hated it when people messed up his hair, so they always made sure to pat his head whenever they walked by. Such a loving family. Yet the smile on Hakyeon's lips made up for the annoyance, because Hongbin hadn't seen that smile since earlier that morning. "Anyway, the prank worked for the most part. It's just that you never verbally apologized for messing up, and I didn't know when to stop because I hadn't planned that far. I guess, as a result, things just kept building up and getting more tense. At one point, it stopped being a prank. The others kept pulling me aside in between dance practices and asking me to stop. But they didn't butt in because I'm the leader and it's my duty to make decisions. I let it go too far. When Hyukie asked me for a longer break, I tried to end it there."

"But manager-nim walked in and made us keep going," Hongbin recalled. Reflecting back on the incident, he could vaguely remember a confused, warning look on Hakyeon's face when the manager walked in. At the time, Hongbin had assumed that was because of the break being cut short. Now he realized it was because the manager wouldn't let the prank end, and therefore unintentionally forced the entire group to suffer more. "Wow, I didn't even think about it being a prank."

"I know," Hakyeon sighed resignedly. "And I'm very sorry for that. In fact, I'm sorry for the whole thing. If you're going to blame anyone, don't let it be manager-nim or any of the others. They were just following my direction like any good listener should do. The whole prank was my idea, and I was supposed to be the one to end it and see it through. But I failed and let the whole group down, wore everyone else out way more than I meant to. I got carried away. What's even worse, though, is that I didn't have the guts to stand up to the manager and stop him before we all passed out. So if you're going to blame someone, blame me. This is all my fault." 

Poor Hakyeon. The weight of the guilt he must have been carrying all these hours while Hongbin held a pity-party for himself. One thing Hongbin knew about Hakyeon for sure was that his leader unnecessarily blamed himself for anything that happened to any of the members. When things went out of control, Hakyeon bottled it up and hid the guilt and shame he felt until he practically drove himself insane. The poor guy must have been beating himself up over this. 

"I mean, it's not like the manager knew-"

"He did." Hakyeon's amber-brown eyes flashed dangerously for a brief moment, an emotion flitting across his features that scared Hongbin. "He knew and he made us keep going, on purpose. I fired him as soon as you left because I'm not going to let anyone take advantage of us like that again."

More news to Hongbin. He'd liked the manager so far, but something had always seemed off about the man. Now he knew that the manager's intentions had only been to take control of the group. Not cool. 

"Good. I don't want to see the others so exhausted anymore. It was terrible."

"Definitely. I'm just glad today is over."

There. Hongbin had gotten Hakyeon to lower his guard just the tiniest bit, revealing the defeated, worn out leader he hated others seeing. Hongbin watched his leader's eyes droop and his shoulders slump lower and lower, leaving Hakyeon to the mercies of his second-youngest member. 

"Hakyeonnie-hyung," Hongbin began, shifting so his shoulder pressed softly into Hakyeon's, "none of this is your fault. Okay, well, maybe the prank part, and I would've killed you for that afterwards either way, so let's not worry about that." Warm laughter filled the room, lifting the tension. "But I don't blame any of you for what happened. First of all, most of my anger wasn't even a result of today's affairs. My director on set is turning into more and more of a prick, and he's been cutting me down and trampling me under his feet just because I have a more up-beat personality. Yesterday was the worst it's gotten, and the anger from yesterday spilled over into today. I was already mad before you began the prank." At the news, Hakyeon tensed and tried to sit up, but Hongbin forced his friend to remain put. "It's fine; I'll deal with it next week when I go on set again. I won't let him boss me around the way the manager did. But that aside, you didn't know that provoking me in any way would set me off. It's been a long couple of days, and they've come with a whole mix of emotions. But they're over now and I've exhausted my anger. I'll be fine with some rest. I just wanted to finish by saying that you had no idea today would go this way. You didn't know your prank would mess up. And you didn't know the manager would make us keep going. I guess what I'm trying to say is that this is everyone's fault and no one's fault. So let's just recover from practice today and start over."

"Oh, Hongbinnie." Hakyeon slipped off of Hongbin's shoulder to wrap the younger man in a tight embrace. Hongbin could feel his amazing leader's heartbeat pounding in his ears, a soothing lullaby after a horribly long week. The nickname that disappeared for the majority of the evening reappeared without a trace of its disappearance. Things would be okay after tonight. "You've grown up so much since we first met. I'm proud of you and all that you've accomplished. My little acting buddy."

Gross. Now that all the sentimentality had faded, Hakyeon would be gushing and complimenting everybody on everything. Hongbin playfully pushed Hakyeon off him and stuck out his tongue. "Just cause you're older doesn't mean you get to treat me like a little kid. Besides,  _you're_ my little acting buddy, not the other way around. I've got more experience than you."

"Yah! What about  _"What's Up with These Kids?_ " Hakyeon protested.

"That? Psh, child's play compared to Moorim School. Get yourself a  _real_ life."

"You evil little devil!" Hakyeon spat, tackling Hongbin and wrestling gently with him on the bed. They continued in some manner, rolling back and forth in a careless manner, just enjoying themselves in general.  Then Hakyeon accidentally bumped Hongbin's ankle, and the visual hissed in pain.

Immediately, Hakyeon jumped to his feet and forced Hongbin to lie down on his back on the bed. The older man then rolled off Hongbin's sock and examined the tender area. He pressed down on the sore, swollen spot with deft fingers, gauging information based off Hongbin's reactions to each movement. "This might be sprained, Binnie. You should have told us about it earlier." 

"I think there were more important things to get out of the way first," Hongbin murmured, wrapping an arm around Hakyeon in a friendly manner. "But now that we've done that. Hakyeon, I think I might've sprained my ankle when I kicked the wall."

"No kidding." Hakyeon rolled his eyes at his friend's antics before standing and patting Hongbin's shoulder. "Give me a minute. I'll be right back." 

Hakyeon exited the room and suddenly shouted for all the world to hear that Hongbin would like some company. The response was instantaneous. Four voices shouted back in utter excitement, and the quiet that had haunted the house for the last who-knew-how-long lifted with a bang of activity. The first one in the room when Hakyeon left was Sanghyuk. The youngest member squealed in ecstasy and jumped on the bed with an inhuman sound escaping between his lips. "HONGBINNIEEEEEEEEEEE-HYUNG! We missed you!"

"What? I wasn't even gone that long," Hongbin scoffed with a smile. He accepted Sanghyuk into his embrace while eyeing Wonshik, Taekwoon, and Jaehwan as they filed into the room with the goofiest smiles on their faces. Well, all except Taekwoon. The guy hardly ever smiled at anyone for any reason, but Hongbin thought he spied a grin underneath that stony face. "You're not mad at me, right?"

"Are you serious? Of course we're not!" Jaehwan exclaimed with a little bounce. He did his best to join Hongbin and Hyuk on the bed, but only succeeded in climbing halfway on. Still, he apparently felt satisfied with that because he didn't move an inch. Taekwoon and Wonshik settled for sitting precariously on the edge of Hongbin's bed. "Bros stick together, am I right?"

"For sure," Wonshik grinned. The rapper shot Hongbin a wink that promised a great evening of games and fun and general family time. The entire situation from earlier had reversed. Now Hongbin couldn't wait for the fellowship with his brothers to begin. "Movie night with popcorn tonight, guys?"

No one could distinguish a single reply over the tumult of voices yelling in unison. Hakyeon chose that moment to walk in and smile at the varying facial expressions gracing his sight. Sanghyuk and Jaehwan could have been black holes with how wide open their mouths were, and even Taekwoon had his fists clenched in a fury of excitement. Wonshik, of course, proud that he'd come up with such a wonderful suggestion, howled with laughter off to the side. And Hongbin nearly choked on laughter at the alien sounds he heard coming from his friends. 

"Lay back, Binnie," Hakyeon ordered. The leader placed several items on the bed before forcefully shoving Taekwoon off the edge in one swift movement. Leo only growled deep in his throat before giving up and joining Wonshik off to the side. 

With everyone out of the way, Hakyeon carefully grasped Hongbin's ankle in his firm hands and rubbed circles into the muscles around the swollen area. He knew they'd be tight from the strain of hitting the wall, and one of the fastest ways to help his recovery would be to loosen up the muscles now in the early stages of the injury. For the next few minutes, Hakyeon continued the gentle treatment to Hongbin's ankle before calling it quits and wrapping his fellow member's sprained ankle in a sturdy bandage. He then pressed a pack of ice to either side of the ankle and finished by resting Hongbin's foot on a small pillow. "We'll keep that elevated as long as possible. And don't worry about training tomorrow. With the manager gone and your ankle in such a condition, I called our head manager and he said we could take the next couple of days off. We all need a break before we start practice for the concert next week anyway. Let's rest tonight and enjoy ourselves until next Monday. We go back to work then, except Hongbin if his ankle's still in bad shape." 

"We get a break?" Sanghyuk's young face broke out into the most beautiful smile the boys had ever seen before. The youngest member leaped off the bed and began to bounce around the house in the most undignified fashion. "HALLELUJAH, I've been waiting for this! Let's go party, guys!"

The rest of the boys broke out into laughs and giggles and bickering and chasing and popcorn and movies . . . for the first time in a long, long time, everyone was happy and at peace. They were able to be a family again. 


	2. For Once, Let Us Care For You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Requested by Fabb223
> 
> Hakyeon injures himself badly during practice for a new choreography, but thankfully, he's got five wonderful brothers to help him get through this ordeal with a smile on his face. 
> 
> **VIXX Info**
> 
> Cha Hakyeon/N - leader, main dancer, lead vocal, center; 28 years old  
> Jung Taekwoon/Leo - main vocalist; 28 years old  
> Lee Jaehwan/Ken - main vocalist; 26 years old  
> Kim Wonshik - main rapper, lead dancer, vocalist; 25 years old  
> Lee Hongbin - lead rapper, vocalist, visual, face of the group; 25 years old (side acting career)  
> Han Sanghyuk - main dancer, vocalist, maknae; 23 years old
> 
> Fandom Name: Starlights; Colors: Gold and Navy Blue
> 
> **Please support VIXX's latest comeback, Scentist! They are in danger of disbanding in May! Show them we want them to go on!**
> 
> **Language Helps**
> 
> Yah - Hey!  
> Ne - yes  
> Ah - affection from an older boy to a younger boy  
> Hyung - "brother"; what a younger man will call an older man  
> Nim - respect for someone older/more experienced  
> Maknae - youngest member of a group  
> Daebak - Amazing!  
> Saranghae - I love you  
> Dongsaeng - someone younger  
> -ie at the end of a name expresses a deep bond

Every K-Pop idol in the world knew that there were risks of injury. Even the smallest mistake could wind them up in the hospital with months and months of recovery time. One flip wrongly executed or one fall off the stage had the potential to kill them. Yet the idols continued their careers anyway. Why? Because it's what they loved to do more than anything else in the world. The thrill of being on stage, a microphone carrying voices to thousands of fans waiting to eagerly receive dulcet tones in their ears . . . there was nothing like it. 

Hakyeon knew this more than anyone else. And more than anyone else, he knew of the thrill of seeing his brothers succeed, becoming popular figures wherever they went. He was so proud of everything they'd accomplished, and he considered it an honor to be their leader and friend. However, there were some days when all Hakyeon wanted to do was strangle them until they actually listened to him. Today happened to be one of those days. 

The six members of VIXX currently sat in a large circle on the dance floor, waiting for the manager to come in and give them instructions. Hongbin, Jaehwan, and Sanghyuk competed in a self-decreed high-note competition. The result, Hakyeon thought, was the burst eardrums of the other three members completely ignoring the mess before them. Taekwoon tapped away at something lighting up the screen of his phone - probably a video of their latest performance. Which left Wonshik and Hakyeon to discuss possible choreography for their latest song. 

Most of the lyrics had been written by Wonshik, of course; Hakyeon didn't know if the guy even slept at all with how many hours he put in. Hakyeon himself had a couple of ideas for the choreography that he wanted to run by the manager, but he doubted any of his suggestions would be used since he wasn't an official choreographer. Or maybe his ideas  _would_ be installed; he  _was_ leader, after all. 

"What do you think about incorporating a flip into our choreography, Hakyeonnie-hyung?" 

Whatever Hakyeon had been thinking about before flew out the window when his brain registered Wonshik's question. He leveled his dark amber eyes to Wonshik's, his brows furrowed in deep thought. "We've never done a flip in our choreography before. Do any of us really know how to do a flip well enough to put it in choreography?"

Wonshik shrugged. The movement caused the edge of his sweatshirt to lift and reveal the many tattoos lacing his arms. "We've all got hidden talents. I'm pretty sure at least one of us knows how to do a front-flip."

"Okay. Who did you have in mind?"

"Either me or Sanghyuk."

"Sanghyukkie would be a good choice since he doesn't get the spotlight as much as the rest of us," Hakyeon mused. He placed his chin in his hand and watched the maknae chortle at Hongbin's failed screeches. "If he's up for it, I'd like to try your idea."

"Even if he doesn't, I could still do it," Wonshik urged with a willing smile. "Or we could both do it and  _really_ impress the fans."

Hakyeon couldn't help but chuckle at Wonshik's child-like manner in these matters. Rapping and singing and dancing truly were his life. "Let's see what Sanghyuk says first, Ravi-ah, and find out if manager-nim will even agree to let us do such a thing. We'll go from there."

Wonshik scoffed but nudged Hakyeon's shoulder all the same. "Of course he'll agree. We have that sling-shot move in 'Voodoo Doll' already, so a simple flip won't be too much to work with."

"Still," Hakyeon said, wincing at a particularly high note from Jaehwan, "it's best to make sure manager-nim doesn't have the choreography planned out already. I don't want to pressure anybody into doing what they don't feel like doing." 

Wonshik opened his mouth to shoot Hakyeon a snarky reply, but both boys suddenly flinched and covered their ears at Sanghyuk's piercing squeal. A second, even higher, scream followed a moment later as Jaehwan competed for the number one spot in the soprano section. Hakyeon and Wonshik exchanged annoyed glances before the elder of the two reached out with his foot and gently prodded Jaehwan's shin. "Cut it out, you guys. We're singers, not screech owls. Once you learn to sing nicely at that volume, you can join the highest-singing choir ever created. Thank you, have a nice day."

Muffled, childish laughter accompanied by snorts told Hakyeon the boys would only shut up for about thirty seconds. He was right. Just when peace and quiet settled over the group, Hongbin burst out into raucous giggles, his eyes crinkled in merriment at the whole situation. Soon enough, everyone else joined in and a dog-pile ensued, even the intimidating Taekwoon squashing his band members.

Of course, the manager walked in at that moment of all times. He took one look at the tangled mess of boys scattered over the floor and broke out into a gigantic smile. "I know you guys love each other, but please disengage so we can get to work."

More snickers and titters. All six men loved their new manager because of his chill attitude and humorous personality. Sometimes even the manager fell into their little tussles and promised to beat the members up later after they tackled him. Plus, he didn't get angry when they had fun because he knew that teasing and joking was their way of de-stressing. With such a kind demeanor, the manager usually received quick obedience and high levels of respect. 

"Let's go guys, up. We've got to get started on this new choreography as soon as possible," Manager-nim ordered with a clap of his hands. His business-like tone of voice urged the members of VIXX  to scramble up from the floor and begin their stretches. 

"Manager-nim, Wonshik-ah and I would like to request a special dance move in the choreography," Hakyeon spoke up. He stretched his hands forward with his legs out straight, straining to reach his toes. He succeeded. "Or actually, dance flip."

Every head in the room turned in Hakyeon's direction. Wonshik smiled at his leader in thanks, leaving everyone else to gape at him with confused or excited expressions. Manager-nim just eyed Hakyeon with a careful look. "How complicated are we talking?"

"Just a front-flip or back-flip is all."

"And who would do this?"

"I'd like Sanghyukkie to try, but if he's not willing, Wonshik-ah has volunteered," Hakyeon murmured, shifting his gaze to the maknae. Sanghyuk stared at him with a mixture of surprise and appreciation; it wasn't often the youngest member was asked to be in the spotlight. "Hyukie? What do you say?"

"Whoa, whoa, wait!" Jaehwan held out his hands dramatically. "Can Hyukie even flip? I've never seen him do one before." 

Sanghyuk shot Jaehwan a venomous glare as retaliation, but for the most part his concentration rested on Hakyeon and manager-nim. "Ne, I can flip. I'm out of practice, though, so I'll have to warm up a lot before we try it in the actual choreo."

"Of course," Hakyeon smiled. He felt excited at the prospect of seeing Sanghyuk in action. However, any anticipation for the day ahead evaporated when he caught manager-nim's eyes and read the message that the trainer wanted a private chat. Heaving a heavy sigh, Hakyeon pushed himself off the ground and made his way toward the manager. "Hyukie, go ahead and begin warming up. Manager-nim and I will be back in a few moments."

The younger boy nodded, already flexing his arms in preparation, and Hakyeon disappeared into the adjoining room with the manager. 

___

Nearly thirty minutes and ten arguments later, Hakyeon reentered the room with manager-nim on his heels. The moment he opened the door, the sight of Sanghyuk performing a very complicated flip met his eyes. A twinge of surprise momentarily swept through Hakyeon's mind at the fact that Hyuk had been holding out on them. Since when could he do such massively impressive flips? And good thing Hakyeon had won the argument, or else all of Sanghyuk's warm-up would have been pointless. 

"Hakyeonnie-hyung!" Jaehwan threw himself on Hakyeon with desperate energy. He practically vibrated in anticipation. "Can he do it? Please? It's so daebak!" 

"Manager-nim and I have agreed to allow the flip," Hakyeon announced happily, to which a tumult of joyous shouts pervaded the air. "And now that Sanghyuk's warmed up, we'll go ahead and walk through the choreography."

For the next hour, Hakyeon directed and ordered and led his friends through the sequence of the new choreography, pointing out minor mistakes and rearranging his friends' positions until it looked decent. At long last, they were able to run it all the way through, minus Sanghyuk's flip. That would come after most of the choreography had been learned. And nearly five hours later, after lunch and several half-hour breaks, VIXX could run through most of the choreography without a hitch. Of course, there were several areas where they tripped up and stumbled, but considering how quickly they'd learned it, Hakyeon was impressed. Now they could add Sanghyuk's special part. 

It took a while. Sanghyuk kept coming in two to three beats late, and it threw everything off. Then he kept lifting off too early, leaving him awkwardly standing in the front for several long seconds. After another thirty minutes or so of working on timing, everything finally fell into place. Manager-nim appeared especially pleased with the results, and even pulled Hakyeon aside to praise him for insisting on the flip. "Thank Wonshik-ah, not me," Hakyeon had replied. But deep down inside, he felt glad for arguing against the manager's better judgment. 

"All right, VIXX, let's try it once all the way through and see how it goes!" Hakyeon urged, jumping up and down in excitement. This would be a big moment for them. 

The others rushed to line up in their starting positions, each of them brimming with energy. Manager-nim clicked the play button, the music began, and the boys danced to their fullest. At Sanghyuk's flip, everyone held their breath in fear of what might happen. A moment later, their fears were relieved when Sanghyuk safely touched down on the floor below him. After that, the rest of the song was a breeze; it ended on a perfect note. 

Celebration followed, with Jaehwan, Hongbin, Taekwoon, and Wonshik thoroughly squashing Hyuk between them and slapping his back in pride. Hakyeon allowed the festivities to continue for several more minutes before he pulled Hyuk out of the circle of bodies and murmured, "Let's try it again to make sure it wasn't a fluke. We'll practice it another couple of times after that and then call it quits for today." 

Good old Sanghyuk assented to his leader's wishes without complaint, skipping over to the middle of the dance floor along with his brothers. After the previous successful performance, all were ready to blast through the song even better this time. Once more, the music began and spurred the boys into graceful action. Hakyeon quietly breathed a sigh of relief that everything seemed to be going well - even better than planned, actually. Just a few more run-throughs, and they could relax for the rest of the day. 

Just as the thought crossed Hakyeon's mind, Sanghyuk's spotlight moment arrived. The maknae discreetly shifted to the edge of the group. Hakyeon briefly noticed the younger man moving a little more quickly than normal; that could mess things up. Unfortunately, Hakyeon happened to be right this time. His observant eyes caught Sanghyuk's foot slipping slightly on lift off, caught how Sanghyuk didn't flip forward far enough because of the slip, saw Sanghyuk's head aiming straight for the floor. The leader's heart caught in his throat, and he acted without thinking. 

His feet carried him forward toward the figure hanging in midair, his brain completely shutting out the confused looks the younger men gave him. Hakyeon opened his arms wide as if to embrace Sanghyuk, but really he only knew that his chest would be much softer on Sanghyuk's head than the hard, wooden floor. For the briefest moment in eternity, Sanghyuk's terrified eyes met Hakyeon's; the boy saw the older man widening his arms as if to provide a pillow, one that Sanghyuk reached for and wrenched into his arms as he fell, one that he threw all of his weight on. He was safe now, in the arms of his leader. 

Hakyeon knew he'd probably just saved his maknae's life, but he didn't know about his own. Sanghyuk nestled safely in his arms, but Hakyeon's own feet gave out from underneath him. He felt a  _pop!_ in his back, felt a sudden shoot of pain blossom toward the bottom of his spine. He and Sanghyuk hit the floor together with a heavy thud, and the force of the impact caused Hakyeon to release Sanghyuk and send his little brother rolling across the floor. 

Pandemonium broke out. Hakyeon grunted in agony at the fire stabbing his lower back, so uncomfortable that he was too afraid to move for fear of aggravating it. He automatically brought his hand around to grab at the throbbing area in a futile attempt to lesson the burning. The other arm swung over his eyes to shield them from the light now blinding him. 

Across the room, Jaehwan and Wonshik bent over Sanghyuk, who stared in horror at the ceiling with a glazed look in his deep brown eyes. He'd almost died. If Hakyeon hadn't been there . . . 

"Hyukkie! Hakyeonnie-hyung! Are you guys okay?"

While Wonshik, Taekwoon, and Jaehwan examined Sanghyuk for signs of injury, Hakyeon remained where he lay on the floor. His fingers dug into his lower back, rubbing into the skin as if such motions would help. A shadow fell over him, followed by gentle hands removing his hand from over his eyes. Hongbin and the manager stared down at him with extremely worried expressions. 

"Hyung?" Hongbin's eyes crinkled at the corner as he frowned, wondering why his friend just lay there without saying anything. "Are you okay?"

The genuine concern in the younger boy's voice jolted Hakyeon out of his stupor. He blinked up at the manager, gritting his teeth against the pain. "My back," he managed to spit out, his tone revealing just how badly he hurt. "I heard it pop when I fell."

A string of curses fell from Manager-nim's lips at the news. The trainer reached down and forced Hakyeon's finger to stop kneading his back, then placed his own large hand over the tingling area and carefully felt around. He said nothing for a long while, which only made Hakyeon more nervous about his condition. 

"Hyuk's okay, just shaken up," Taekwoon reported. He glanced up from his position on the floor only to be met with the sight of Manager-nim and Hongbin leaning over Hakyeon's still form. Fear seized his chest. "Binnie, what's the report?" 

The aforementioned lifted his gaze to Taekwoon's. "Hakyeon-hyung hurt his back. We don't know how bad it is yet."

At the news, Sanghyuk pushed aside his own fear and raced toward his leader. He was not alone; Jaehwan, Wonshik, and Taekwoon followed closely behind him. Taekwoon slid into place beside Hongbin and took Hakyeon's hand in his own, rubbing circles into the skin to provide some sort of comfort. However, when Hyuk moved to rest Hakyeon's head on his lap, Taekwoon snapped his arm out and pushed Sanghyuk back. "Don't. He might have a neck injury that we don't know about and moving him will make it worse."

Sanghyuk nodded, still visibly shaking. Seeing this, Taekwoon inwardly sighed and directed Hyuk's hand toward Hakyeon's forehead. "Be useful and keep the light out of his eyes until the ambulance arrives."

"A-ambulance?" Sanghyuk squeaked. His shivering fingers automatically found use in stroking through Hakyeon's silky black hair, and in response, the leader closed his eyes and relaxed a bit. "He's going to be okay, right?"

This time, Jaehwan took charge in comforting the youngest. "Kid, if he listens to us for once, he'll be fine. You hereby have permission to boss him around when he gets back from the hospital."

The barest hint of a smile broke out on Sanghyuk's innocent face. The tension in the air faded and silence fell over the circle of boys surrounding their injured friend for upwards of five minutes before the doors burst open to extract two paramedics into their midst. As Hakyeon was carried away on a stretcher, he heard one last plea from his Hyukkie: "Please be okay, hyung. I'd never forgive myself."

\---

"Well, the good news is that it's not his spine."

After hours of waiting in the hospital for information, the doctor finally emerged to deliver a verdict. The five men and the manager who'd been sitting in the waiting room through most of the night perked up at the first words from the doctor. Their drooping, tired eyes gained a spark of life. 

"We took both an x-ray and a CAT scan of his back, and there were no fractures or sprains that we could see. What we did find is that he wrenched most of the muscles in his lower back when he fell with so much weight on him. To make it simple, it's basically like he got severe whip lash across his entire lower back. Usually it takes four weeks or so to heal, but considering he's a dancer and it's a more severe case, I would tell him to lay low for six to eight weeks and start slowly from there. I've got some pain medicine for him to take when he is discharged in just a moment. It'll knock him out pretty quickly and help begin the healing process, and he'll need to keep taking it for about a week. The best thing for you all to do is to alternate between heat and ice on the sore area. One hour for the heat, rest for a couple minutes, then ice for about twenty minutes. Keep up that process for the first forty-eight hours he's home and then switch to just ice until most of the pain is gone. Also, it's best to let him rest for as long as possible over the next week."

The information came so quickly the members of VIXX barely had time to process it, but the manager handled it by writing down notes and handing them to Taekwoon. The latter nodded gratefully at the doctor before stuffing the note in his pocket and asking, "When will we be able to take him home?"

"If you wait right there, I'll go get him for you now," the doctor smiled, his grin widening when the boys around him suddenly grew animated and wild. While they partied, he sneaked away into the back to retrieve their friend. 

\---

"If you need anything at all, text me, call me, scream at me, do whatever, and I will come and help you out, okay? Otherwise, you just lay there and sleep to your little heart's content." 

The moment the boys had seen Hakyeon walking out on his own two feet, even if his gait was a little off since he didn't want to move too much, something inside them had broken. It was as if seeing Hakyeon proved the doctor's words true, and the boys could finally breathe. 

The ride home had honestly been pretty hilarious. Whatever pain medicine the doctor gave Hakyeon overpowered the leader's system and left him helpless and loopy in the head. The entire time, Hakyeon had been muttering the most random, unheard of things to his brothers and driving them absolutely insane with laughter. Then, right as they pulled up to the apartment, Hakyeon completely crashed and fell asleep drooling against Wonshik's shoulder. 

Now, they currently worked on tucking their great leader into bed with a heating pad soothing the ache in his back. Hakyeon still seemed half-awake since he responded to their touches and movements, but everyone doubted how much he'd remember in the morning. Still, they enjoyed this time to love and dote on their leader the way he loved them - though without the neck-slices. 

 "Jaehwannie?"

The vocal that originally instructed Hakyeon to contact the members when he needed something stopped in the doorway of Hakyeon's room. "Ne, hyung?"

Silence. Then . . . "My back hurts really badly."

All the energy could be seen exiting Jaehwan's body by the way his shoulders suddenly slumped. Ken usually got labeled as the trouble-maker, the silly one, the prankster. And yes, he did annoy Hakyeon more than he did the other members . . . but that was only because he admired and respected Hakyeon more. Aside from the fact that the guy was his leader and deserved respect anyway, there was also the fact that Hakyeon knew exactly what he needed right when he needed it. Since the beginning, Hakyeon had laughed with him and cried with him and wrestled with him. But most importantly, he'd always been there. Never left, though many times Ken thought he would. 

So yes, Jaehwan hated it when he had to watch his leader suffer without being able to help. Especially with Hakyeon so vulnerable like this . . . it made Jaehwan want to just hold and protect N to the very end. 

Well, the end hadn't come yet. But Jaehwan could still hold and protect Hakyeon. Thus, he made his way over to the bed where Hakyeon blinked up at him with bleary, sleep-ridden eyes and slipped in beside his leader. It surprised Jaehwan a little when Hakyeon didn't protest, but then again, everyone needed comfort at some point or another. N had reached that point today, and he'd asked Jaehwan for comfort. 

Jaehwan determined to give that comfort to Hakyeon if it was the last thing he did. He reached out and very softly wrapped his arms around Hakyeon's chest as if to provide a shelter for the injured man. His hand sought out the nape of Hakyeon's neck, and instead of delivering neck-slices for once, Jaehwan provided a soothing massage by gently squeezing the warm skin. "Saranghae. Sleep well, N-hyung."

Hakyeon slept better than he had for a long time. 

\---

The next afternoon, Taekwoon entered Hakyeon's room to find Jaehwan and N snuggling comfortably against each other (everyone had slept in because of the late night at the hospital). He paused for a moment to allow the surprise to wash over him at the sight - he'd never known Ken to be such a good cuddle buddy before. Nor had he ever seen such a display of affection from the younger man in the past. 

Either way, Hakyeon needed his medicine, so they'd both have to wake up. Taekwoon stepped over to the side of the bed and placed his hand over Hakyeon's forehead to feel the warmth seep into his hand. "Hakyeonnie-hyung, wake up," he murmured quietly into the sleeping man's ear. Hakyeon stirred but didn't wake. Taekwoon gingerly shook his shoulder until he cracked his eyes open with an unpleasant groan. A twinge of guilt shot through Taekwoon's heart at the sound. "Hyung, you need to take your medicine. Try to sit up for me."

Hakyeon, bless his soul, did try. Through a lot of wincing and whimpering and cries of pain, he tried. Taekwoon finally stepped in by firmly pressing against the wrenched muscles in Hakyeon's back and pushing upward in one swift movement. The painful movement elicited a quiet cry from Hakyeon, loud enough that it woke Jaehwan, but the deed had been done. Taekwoon gave the medicine to Hakyeon with the promise that it would help his back feel better. 

"Now that that's done, relax and annoy Jaehwan. I'll prepare breakfast - or rather lunch - for you in about half an hour." 

True to his request, Hakyeon managed to drive Jaehwan up the wall multiple times by annoying the kid and then claiming he could receive no retaliation because of his injury. Honestly, one of the best moments of Hakyeon's day. He could neck-slice all he wanted without anyone chopping him back. 

When Taekwoon eventually brought breakfast in to Hakyeon, the leader dove right in until he'd finished every last bite. It was the best meal he'd had in a long time. 

\---

Later that evening, Hakyeon dozed uneasily in his bed. The medicine he'd taken earlier helped lower the level of pain he felt, but his back still hurt enough that he couldn't sleep well. And it hurt way too much for him to continue switching positions. Really, he just wanted Jaehwan to come back in and hold him again. Or maybe he wanted Taekwoon to come talk to him. Or maybe he just wanted to not be in pain. 

In the midst of Hakyeon's internal struggle, the door creaked open and Hongbin peeked his head around the door. "Hakyeonnie-hyung? May I come in?"

Well, it wasn't Jaehwan and it wasn't Taekwoon, but Hakyeon felt his heart melt at the sweet tone of voice Hongbin spoke in. Almost as if the younger boy knew how much Hakyeon needed the company. "Sure. What did you need?"

"Just wanted to check on you," Hongbin murmured, moving inside and shutting the door behind him with his foot. In his hands he held a variety of items, too many for Hakyeon to count. "I figured you'd probably have trouble falling asleep comfortably."

"You guessed right." Hakyeon shifted over slightly to allow Hongbin to join him on the bed, an eternal grimace resting over his features. He couldn't wait until his back healed so he could actually move without wanting to cry. "Did you have something in mind to help?"

"Of course!" Hongbin clambered up onto the bed beside Hakyeon and dropped everything in his hands onto the soft mattress. "Have I got a night prepared for us! I asked the others to go do something together so we could hang out, just me and you." The visual began sorting out the items on the bed. First, he handed Hakyeon a large, fluffy blanket. "I'll help you with this in a sec. For now, hold the popcorn while I set up the DVD for us." Hongbin thrust a steaming bag of buttery popcorn in Hakyeon's hands - something totally restricted from their diet but apparently allowed today. Hakyeon grabbed a couple kernels and popped them in his mouth while Hongbin plugged his laptop into the charger and pushed a CD inside the DVD port. "I've decided we're going to re-watch our web drama together and laugh at each other's acting skills." 

Hakyeon paused with his hand in the bag of popcorn, his eyes watching Hongbin concentrate on the task at hand. It had been quite awhile since the two of them had spent time alone for reasons other than work. This would be a very nice evening. "Thank you, Binnie-ah. I'm feeling better already." The two boys exchanged warm smiles, both of them happy just to have each other's company. 

"Okay, I think it'll be easier on your neck and back if you watch this sitting up a little more," Hongbin stated, turning to Hakyeon and reaching for the older man. "I'll help you up, but don't lay back as soon as I lift you because I have a pillow for you to rest on." Hakyeon nodded at the words, any fear of the pain from sitting up disappearing at Hongbin's confident words. His friend had really thought of everything. 

Hongbin's strong hand supported Hakyeon's back as the leader struggled to sit up. Once finished, Hongbin quickly grabbed the pillow he'd brought in and placed it against the headboard for Hakyeon to sit against. This time, the oldest member of VIXX only sucked in a breath of air instead of crying out. He still hurt, but he'd improved a bit. 

"Here." Hongbin took the fluffy blanket and wrapped it around Hakyeon's shoulders, throwing half of it over his own body for warmth. "Now, please sit back and enjoy the show." 

Hongbin pressed play on his computer, and the beginning scenes of  _What's Up With These Kids?_ flashed on the screen. Finally, the two men settled back to enjoy the duration of the ten episodes they'd acted in together; occasionally, one of them would make a cheeky comment about the other's looks or actions. 

"Awww, you were so cute!"

"I don't remember you being that smart."

"I still don't understand the plot of your character and I was  _in_ it."

"Look at you, the ladies' man!"

At one point, Hakyeon just couldn't seem to settle down without his back throbbing. He continuously shifted back and forth, tried adjusting the pillow, even leaned forward farther than normal to see if anything could alleviate the pain. Nothing worked. Good old Hongbin noticed Hakyeon's restlessness. He sifted through his brain for any ideas that might work, but nothing came to mind. Instead, Hongbin chose to wrap an arm around Hakyeon and pull him against his broad chest to provide a sense of protection and affection. His hand found the wrenched muscles in Hakyeon's back and lazily began to work out the knots tightening the tissue there. Within minutes, Hakyeon fully relaxed against Hongbin with a contented sigh, his eyelids drooping shut as he finally felt comfortable enough to fall into a deep sleep. At the end of another minute, Hakyeon's heavy breathing filled the room - he'd escaped to dreamland. 

Later that night, when the others arrived back home from their activity together, they stepped into Hakyeon's room and broke out into happy smiles at the scene. After hours of frustrated dozing, their leader had finally managed to sleep with Hongbin's help, and from the looks of it, he wouldn't be waking up any time soon either. This was proven by the way he didn't stir once . . . not even when Jaehwan playfully wept at the fact that Hongbin had stolen his cuddle buddy. 

Hongbin only shot Jaehwan a threatening look that promised death if Hakyeon woke up from the whining. 

It was hours later when Hakyeon finally did wake to reflect back on his night with Hongbin. He concluded that it was one of the best nights he'd had in a long time. 

\---

Two days later, after being loved and cared for by his brothers, Hakyeon felt much better. He could sit up and lay down on his own without their help, but anything more than that still bothered his back too much for him to get around on his own. As such, he opted for chilling in his bed most days while his band mates went to practice and cooked and cleaned for him. He felt a bit guilty watching them do all the chores on their own, but he had to admit that it was nice to sit around and do nothing for once. Even if he did hurt. 

This particular Wednesday was a day off for everyone. Jaehwan, Taekwoon, Hongbin, Wonshik, and Sanghyuk spent most of their time in the room with Hakyeon so he wouldn't be bored. They watched YouTube videos, talked about lyrics, discussed their future plans, and just talked in general. When lunchtime arrived, Taekwoon requested the help of Sanghyuk, Jaehwan, and Hongbin. They willingly left, leaving Wonshik and Hakyeon alone in the room. 

"How are you feeling today, hyung?" Wonshik began, moving from his spot on the floor to the bed where Hakyeon lay. "Do you need more pain medicine?"

Hakyeon reached for Ravi's hand with a smile gracing his beautiful features. "I'm much better today than I've been so far. I'm able to move around a lot more, and I can sit up and down without help."

"Pain level?"

"More of a six than an eight now."

"Good good," Wonshik nodded to himself. "Are you up for one of Wonshik's famous massages?"

"Famous?"

"Dude, seriously? Of all the things I said,  _that's_ what caught your attention? I don't offer my services for free very often. Take it or leave it."

"Won't it hurt me, though? I mean, you have a lot of strength in your arms," Hakyeon murmured doubtfully. He eyed the muscular, tattoo-covered arms of his young friend with distrust. 

Wonshik sighed in ultimate disappointment. "Wow, such faith." His comment elicited light chuckles from Hakyeon, allowing the man to laugh at the light banter occurring between them. "I would expect it to hurt a little either way because I'll be massaging your already-injured back. But I'm hoping that by the time I'm done, you won't be hurting as much."

"Hmmm." Hakyeon pretended to contemplate the  _great_ deal put before him, finally giving in and nodding. "Okay, but be as gentle as possible."

"Duh." Wonshik moved closer to Hakyeon and helped the older man roll over with as little pain as possible. Laying down in this position for the first time in several days felt wonderful to Hakyeon, who pushed his arms under the pillow and pulled the fluffy object closer to his head. "Do your thing, Wonshik-ah." 

Cold, strong hands descended on Hakyeon's back and kneaded firmly into the sore muscles. Wonshik was right - it hurt a lot at first, so much so that Hakyeon couldn't hold back several of his whimpers of pain. Wonshik even asked if he should go ahead and stop. But Hakyeon endured the initial spikes of pain, and eventually Wonshik's administrations turned into a soothing massage.

"You know, Hakyeonnie-hyung," Wonshik spoke up after a while, "I'm writing a song about you."

This news surprised Hakyeon. The man open his eyes to catch a glimpse of Wonshik's arm working on his injured back. Neither of them said anything for a while. Then . . . "What about me?"

"Everything," Wonshik replied quietly. He released an inaudible sigh at the entire situation that had happened to Hakyeon. His leader deserved the break, yes, but he didn't deserve such a bad injury to go along with it. Hakyeon was usually the most energetic and wild person in the entire group (Jaehwan excluded), and he always managed to neck-slice his members at least twice a day out of affectionate violence. To have him here, so vulnerable and weak under Wonshik's hands . . . it reminded the rapper of just how much he appreciated his amazing leader. "Your beauty, your smile, your laugh, your spirit, your tender-heartedness. But most importantly, the way you love us, and the way you show us through your actions how much you love us." 

Oh wow. Hakyeon had not been expecting such a heart-felt confession from Wonshik, especially since the members of VIXX didn't usually verbally express their feelings for each other. It warmed Hakyeon's heart and filled him with a burst of fondness for his family. They had unusual ways of expressing their affection, but deep down inside they  _did_ love each other very much. 

"Thank you, Wonshik-ah," Hakyeon murmured gratefully. With the words of his friend in his head and the feeling of that same friend soothing out the ache in his back, Hakyeon closed his eyes and relaxed.

This was the best massage he'd received in a long time. 

\---

For dinner that night, Hakyeon decided to try and sit with everyone else at the table. The rough chairs would obviously bother his back quite a bit, but Sanghyuk solved the problem by bringing a pillow along. The maknae even wrapped a steadying arm around Hakyeon as the leader slowly but surely struggled over to the table with the others. Once there, Hyuk placed the pillow on the chair and fluffed it up before helping Hakyeon sit. 

Taekwoon brought the meal out for everyone - dumplings and  _lots_ of kimchi - and silence seized the apartment as VIXX dug into the delicious meal. Occasionally, a contented sigh or a muffled compliment would permeate the still air, but for the most part they all just enjoyed the meal.

Towards the end of the meal, Hakyeon finally broke the silence. He placed his fork on his plate and cleared his throat for attention. The others immediately fixed their gazes on him. 

"First of all, I wanted to thank you all for everything you've done for me the last couple of days," Hakyeon began with a genuine smile. It really made one happy to know that they had friends who would go out of their way to help. Especially when they brushed it off the way his brothers did after he spoke. "Secondly, I want to apologize."

"What?" Just as Hakyeon thought, Hongbin was the first to protest. "Why? You didn't do anything wrong, hyung!"

Four other heads nodded agreement. 

Hakyeon sighed and mentally prepared himself to list off all the problems he'd caused from this injury. "Well, let's start with putting Hyuk at risk. I asked him to do something we've never done before and nearly got him killed as a result. I made you all stay up really late that night I was in the hospital. I made you care for me. I made you do all the chores. I made you worry. I-"

"Shut up, Cha Hakyeon."

Hakyeon wouldn't have been surprised by the command in any situation except this one. He would have kept on going despite the request in any other situation. But the fact that the youngest member, Sanghyuk, spat the words out in such a venomous tone effectively rendered Hakyeon speechless. Not only that, but Sanghyuk completely overlooked honorifics. 

"I don't know why all good people blame themselves for accidents that aren't their fault," Hyuk began, speaking a powerful statement that stabbed at Hakyeon's heart, "but they do, and so they need to be told exactly why it's  _not_ their fault. That flip you had me try was ultimately my decision. I chose to go ahead with it, and I'm the one who messed it up." Sanghyuk held up a hand to stall the words he knew would come out of Hakyeon's mouth. "No, I don't blame myself either. What happened was purely an accident; it could have happened to any one of us, so we'll leave it at just that: an accident. As for the rest of your complaints . . . let me ask you this. Hakyeonnie-hyung, why did you save me?"

This was not going where Hakyeon thought it would. His unique features molded into an expression of utter confusion as he answered, "Because I didn't want you to get hurt on my watch."

"Okay. Would you save me again?"

No hesitation this time. "Of course."

"Even if it killed you?"

"Even then."

"Why?"

Again with that question. What did Hyuk want? What was the kid looking for? And most importantly, why did Hakyeon feel like he was about to step into a trap that would blow him away? "Because I love you, and I would do anything to make sure you're safe."

Absolute quiet fell over the group of men seated around the table. Jaehwan and Hongbin stared in surprise at Sanghyuk, as if the youngest's sudden spurt of wisdom and rebellion surprised them. Wonshik smiled down at the remaining leftovers on his plate, obviously thinking about something other than his food. And Taekwoon watched Hakyeon's bewildered expression with a smile gracing his lips. 

After an interminable amount of time, Sanghyuk leaned over the table and grasped Hakyeon's cold hands in his own. Their eyes locked together, a fire burning between them. "Why can't you see that that is exactly why we endure these troubles for you? Because we love you and we would do anything to make sure you're safe." Tears welled up in Hakyeon's eyes hearing those words. He hadn't cried in such a long time, not since they'd won their last award. He rarely allowed himself the opportunity to cry because he wanted to stay strong when his members needed him most. Now, their roles were switched. "We don't mind all the cooking and cleaning if it's for you. Besides, we see it as an opportunity to learn valuable skills. We don't mind staying up late at the hospital and worrying about you if it means you'll be here with us in the morning instead of in a graveyard. We don't mind taking time out of our day to give you medicine and cuddles if it means you feel happier. You see, we don't consider these chores or troubles, because we're just finding ways to return the love you've always shown us. We don't do it because it's our job as your dongsaengs. We don't do it because we feel obligated to serve our leader. We do it because we love you, and this is the best way to show our love." 

By now, Hakyeon was full-on sobbing. He couldn't believe his friends really loved him so much; yes, he knew he loved them back just as much, but he'd never realized the full impact of what it meant to be loved so deeply and fully. To have others risk their lives for you, the way he'd risked his for Hyuk. 

This was by far the best advice he'd received in a long time. 

\---

After dinner, the group collectively agreed to enjoy a movie night. Taekwoon helped Hakyeon out this time, grabbing the pillow and steadying the injured man as they made their way to the couch in the living room.  The moment N settled on the couch and lightened his grimace of pain, two bodies sat on either side of him. Jaehwan plopped down on his right, Sanghyuk on his left. The younger of the two quickly threw his arm around Hakyeon's shoulder to claim him before Jaehwan had a chance to. The older responded by sticking his tongue out Hyuk. 

Amidst the laughing spree from the three boys on the couch, Hongbin chose his place on the floor between Sanghyuk's and Hakyeon's legs, and Wonshik crashed on the recliner closest to the TV. Taekwoon thrust a random DVD into the player and pushed play on the remote before scooting back and finding a spot by Hongbin. 

"Thanks again for the help, you guys. I'm really proud to be able to call you my brothers," Hakyeon murmured, leaning into Sanghyuk and patting Jaehwan's thigh, a ridiculously contented smile lifting his cheekbones even higher than normal

"Oh my word, stop being so cheesy. I'm going to cry," Jaehwan gagged. The boy rolled his eyes and pretended to pull away from Hakyeon's touch, but he laced his finger's through N's a moment later to show he only meant to tease. "Don't get your hopes up for too long, Hakyeonnie-hyung. I'm still going to kill you for mercilessly smothering me in neck-slices without allowing me to retaliate."

"Hey, man," Hongbin craned his neck back to wink at Jaehwan, "we've all been deprived of beating up on Hakyeon this week. Once he's given the all-clear, we are so going to tackle him and neck-slice him until he begs for mercy." 

Hakyeon sucked in a breath of fake shock. "You wouldn't."

Five pairs of eyes flashed evilly at Hakyeon. "We would."

And six weeks later, when they did indeed tackle Hakyeon until the six boys were gathered in one tangled mess, he felt no annoyance for their actions. After all, this was their way of showing him they loved him, and he loved them right back. They were a real family. 


End file.
